In the penultimate episode of his widely popular and critically acclaimed HBO series, Painting with John, its creator, John Lurie, sIts in a Manhattan recording studio, working out musical parts for the show’s soundtrack. “After the illness started, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do this again,” said Lurie.
Even as he occupies an enigmatic, multi-faceted, five-decade career characterized by the unexpected, perhaps even Lurie is surprised by this new release of a double-album collection of music, Painting with John, extracted from the series.
Go back a quarter-century or so: As an exotic saxophonist and composer whose pieces alternately recalled cracked-mirror reflections of Thelonious Monk, or Fela Kuti, or Raymond Chandler, Lurie led the vastly influential, downtown NYC jazz ensemble, The Lounge Lizards, through dazzling albums and tours across the globe. He scored indie films and Hollywood hits, collecting a Grammy nomination for Get Shorty along the way and releasing his own surreality-TV series, Fishing with John.
Then, Lurie contracted an especially potent strain of Lyme disease that turned sound and light into elemental enemies. He put down his saxophone, stepped away from the camera, and retreated, in self-protection. He lived in isolation and painted. And then he got cancer.
The sum total of Lurie’s brilliant and evolving third act—including a return to music and acting, his fascinating memoir, History Of Bones, and a resurgent career as an arrestingly original watercolor painter living on a Caribbean island—makes it all the more unlikely. As well, it makes this double LP an astounding and comprehensive compilation epitomizing Lurie’s uniquely eclectic and provocative artistry; an immersive, captivating experience at its most affecting when listened to as a complete thought, from start to finish.
The 56-track set borrows from Lurie’s library of pre-existing creations ranging from indie soundtracks, Manny and Lo and African Swim, and the exhumed discography of Lurie’s fictive bluesman, Marvin Pontiac, and even back to The Lounge Lizards, as well as new pieces written and performed to align with the show’s panorama of narratives. The work rises from the seeds of the blues, exults in polyrhythmic exhales of African music, rides absurdist, elliptical chants, and drapes vignettes in greasy, funky noir.
Whether in short bursts of inspiration (“Unky G,” “Dervish Banjo,” “Ride Like The Wind, You Idiots”) or extended, looping conceits (“African Swim,” “Sea Monster,” “The First and Royal Queen”) Lurie’s arrangements wrap, hydra-like, around contrapuntal lines of his exotically primitive banjo and groove-soaked guitar, or embed themselves into elegant orchestrations, ignited by co-conspirators from the Lizard days, as well as players new to Lurie’s world. In every instance, the gathered ensembles, which include such luminaries as Steven Bernstein (trumpet), G. Calvin Weston (drums), Jane Scarpantoni (cello), Clark Gayton (trombone), Curtis Fowlkes (trombone), Doug Wieselman (guitar) and Michael Blake (tenor saxophone), unearth the music as much as perform it; hatching and solving the mystery in simultaneous solidarity.
It’s a journey; a travelogue of genre, style, and invention as fluid and evocative as the artist. Pure of intent, and engaging at every turn, Painting with John is both companion and stand-alone; both detailed soundtrack and joyous summary. “This may be the last thing I do,” Lurie says. “I want it to be beautiful.”
released March 15, 2024
PAINTING WITH JOHN
music from the series by John Lurie
All music composed by John Lurie, with the exception of
“The Beast” by John Lurie, Calvin Weston & Billy Martin
Music transcription and preparation
Doug Wieselman & Steven Bernstein
Music published by Lagarto Productions, Inc.
© ℗ 2024 Strange and Beautiful Music. All rights reserved.
John Lurie: banjo, guitar, harmonica, vocals
Doug Wieselman: guitar, clarinet, ocarina, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Steven Bernstein: trumpet, slide trumpet
Michael Blake: tenor and soprano saxophone
Art Baron: trombone (Season Three)
Curtis Fowlkes: trombone
Clark Gayton: trombone (Season Two)
Evan Lurie: piano (Season Two)
Smokey Hormel: guitar
Bryan Carrott: marimba, vibes (Season Two)
Jane Scarpantoni: cello
Tony Scherr: electric and acoustic bass, slide guitar
Calvin Weston: drums
Kenny Wollesen: percussion, marimba, vibes
Project Management
Kevin Calabro
Mastered by
Colin Alexander and Alex DeTurk
Recorded by
Patrick Dillett at Reservoir Studios, 2021
Marc Urselli at EastSide Sound, 2022
Cover Art by John Lurie
www.johnlurieart.com
Cover Design
Erik Mockus and Gregory J. Del Deo
Production Coordinator
Nesrin Wolf
African Swim: Main Titles
from the album African Swim and Manny & Lo
John Lurie banjo, harmonica, sampling keyboard
Doug Wieselman 1st clarinet
Michael Blake 2nd clarinet
Janet Grice bassoon
Marc Ribot guitar
Mary L. Rowell violin
Laura Seaton violin
Ron Lawrence violin
Mary Wooten cello
Tony Garnier bass
Mauro Refosco percussion
Calvin Weston drums
Al Al Al Al
from the album African Swim and Manny & Lo
Steven Bernstein trumpet
Marc Ribot guitar
Brian Mitchell keyboards
Tony Garnier bass
Calvin Weston drums
Mary L. Rowell violin
Laura Seaton violin
Ron Lawrence viola
Mary Wooten cello
Goodbye to Peach
from the album African Swim and Manny & Lo
John Lurie soprano saxophone
Marc Ribot guitar
Mauro Refosco talking drum
Calvin Weston drums
Driving Into Country
from the album African Swim and Manny & Lo
John Medeski casio keyboard
Bill Ware marimba
Matt Zimbelmann guitar
Chris Wood bass
Billy Martin drums
The Beast
from the album Fishing with John
John Lurie soprano saxophone
Calvin Weston drums
Billy Martin percussion
Flutter
from the album Fishing with John
John Lurie soprano saxophone
Calvin Weston drums
Billy Martin percussion
Small Car
from the album The Legendary Marvin Pontiac -
Greatest Hits by Marvin Pontiac
Michael Blake tenor saxophone
Art Baron trombone
Jaime Scott guitar
Erik Sanko acoustic guitar
Evan Lurie electric piano
Bill Ware marimba
Jane Scarpantoni cello
Tony Garnier bass
Billy Martin shekere
Mauro Refosco percussion
Calvin Weston drums
First and Royal Queen
from the album Queen of All Ears by The Lounge Lizards
John Lurie alto saxophone
Michael Blake tenor saxophone
Steven Bernstein trumpet
David Tronzo slide guitar
Evan Lurie piano & organ
Jane Scarpantoni cello
Erik Sanko bass
Ben Perowsky percussion
Calvin Weston drums
Temple of Banjos, My Little Garden Gnome,
I Hope She is Okay, I Don’t Like to Stand on Line,
Unbelievable, Beastliness
All instruments and vocals by John Lurie
from the album Marvin Pontiac the Asylum Tapes
Curtis Fowlkes 1950 - 2023
I am going to miss him
